‘Rizzoli & Isles’ to Mourn Death of Lee Thompson Young

Next Tuesday’s episode of Rizzoli & Isles will feature a memorial service for police Detective Barry Frost. Frost was played by actor Lee Thompson Young who died of an apparent suicide last summer. Frost’s co-workers learned he was killed in a car accident during this season’s first episode.

Sasha Alexander, who plays medical examiner Dr. Maura Isles in the show, says the memorial service was difficult for the entire cast and crew to shoot, however she hopes it will provide everyone–fans included–a means by which to both grieve and heal.

“I hope that people who knew him and adored him and loved him on the show will enjoy it and be able to move through it with us,” the actress said.

Shout out to Rizzoli & Isles for handling Lee Thompson Young's death with grace.

Angie Harmon also stars in Rizzoli & Isles as Detective Jane Rizzoli. Jan Nash came onboard as the new show runner in the months following Lee Thompson Young’s passing. He had the task of deciding how to proceed with this new season.

“I really do think it was very brave of TNT and Warner Bros. and Jan Nash to embark on handling it head-on,” Alexander said. “They might have been like ‘I can’t deal with this. I don’t know how to handle this,’ but they didn’t. They went for it and everyone just embraced it and I think that was really just to show our love for him.”

Not seeing Lee Thompson Young's name in the Rizzoli & Isles opening credits is still strange. #RIP